1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of waste treatment and more particularly, to a reconfigurable treatment system, particularly useful with a cylinder rupture vessel or other waste containing vessels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hazardous waste can originate from a variety of sources and can take on numerous forms. Facilities that generate or collect waste from various sources can accumulate waste with widely-ranging characteristics. Typically, the waste is managed at the storage or accumulation point. This requirement, in view of the diversity of waste characteristics, presents problems in the effective stabilization, recontainerization, and treatment of the waste. Problems are particularly acute at abandoned waste sites where the nature of the waste may be unknown.
Many systems have been developed for treating hazardous waste, such that the byproducts after treatment are suitable for being returned to the environment or are otherwise safe for alternate methods of recontainerization or disposal. One common problem confronted in treating hazardous waste is that it is often enclosed in a container.
Devices for safely gaining access to the contents of containers enclosing potentially hazardous materials have been developed. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,180 (Reissue 33,797), U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,944,333, and 5,186,219, all assigned to Earth Resources Corporation. These devices are commonly referred to as cylinder rupture devices or CRVs. Once the contents of the cylinder or other container are accessed, they typically must be treated and/or recontainerized. Commonly, treatment is accomplished by transferring the contents to a treatment system for neutralization, dilution, thermal destruction, or other treatment depending on the nature of the contents. Such treatment procedures, in general, are well-known.
Systems have been developed for the treatment of specific hazardous waste streams. These systems are typically designed to allow effective management of specific materials and packaging schemes. Some conventional treatment systems have used a combination of scrubbers, adsorbents, burners, or other devices for treating waste. Use of these individual treatment units is generally known in the art. However, prior waste treatment systems which use a combination of these individual treatment units suffer various drawbacks. For example, for safety reasons, the treatment units are typically rigidly connected. Consequently, the path of waste through the units of the treatment system is normally fixed. This can result in inefficient and unnecessarily costly treatment of waste by requiring the waste to pass through all of the units in the system even though treatment by some units is not necessary for some applications. Additionally, the rigid connections make it difficult to change the order of the treatment units. Conventional treatment systems, therefore, fail to provide flexibility in adapting to different desired treatment configurations.
Previous waste treatment systems have typically been designed to meet various criteria of treatment efficiency. Permits may be obtained from regulatory agencies which allow discharge of waste within defined allowable limits. When used for a known, specific waste stream at a fixed location, the permits allow use of conventional treatment systems with known efficiencies. Typically, however, these systems are not adaptable to significant variations in waste characteristics. A change in waste parameters may cause the efficiency of the system to fall below permitted levels.
Regulatory agencies are generally reluctant to permit any discharge of waste in some areas, particularly where treatment efficiencies and discharge characteristics are not well-defined. Permitting agencies may prohibit any discharge from a treatment system until the discharge is characterized and shown to be within allowable standards.
Conventional waste treatment systems typically do not have containment devices necessary to increase the overall safety of the system. In a conventional system, if a component of the system fails, the waste is likely to escape into the surrounding environment. Especially with hazardous waste, this situation is undesirable.
A further problem with conventional waste treatment systems is that the system is typically designed for a fixed location and are not practically adaptable to the treatment of waste having widely varying characteristics depending on the particular site. Treatment systems are commonly designed with a large capacity for specific treatment needs. Once the treatment needs no longer exist, the system is typically dismantled. If the components are to be used in a system at another site they typically have to be transported and reassembled at the new location.
Also, while the use of burners, per se, in conjunction with waste treatment systems is well known, there are some problems with burners which are normally used. Typical burners rely on large quantities of air to provide sufficient oxygen for the thermal oxidizing and/or pyrolyzing process. Among other problems, this often causes the pressure within the system to rise above acceptable or desirable levels. Another problem that often results from using conventional burners is that undesirably high levels of exhaust often have to be contained within the system.
These specific problems are noted for example purposes only. It will be appreciated that there are other problems with the various conventional waste treatment systems.